Copycat
by Cooiee
Summary: When a typical mission takes a turn for the worse, WOOHP is labeled as a group of terrorists and criminals.  It is up to Sam, Clover, Alex and the incarcerated Jerry to discover who is truly working behind the scenes, and clear WOOHP's name. R&R Plz.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**COPYCAT**

**Prologue**

_Nagawa Family Palace, 6:15 pm._

The day was coming to an end. Throughout the great expanse of dry grass plains, the various day-time native wildlife began to settle in their dens, burrows, trees or what ever else they preferred to sleep in; while the night-life animals (mostly bats) began to stir. As the sun set, casting its golden colour along the landscape, the impressive palace of the Nagawa family was silhouetted as it cast long shadows in the fading light.

The soldiers along the glamorously adorned corridor that led to the private chambers snapped to full attention as a young man made his way along the corridor.

The young man's name was Jmahl Nagawa; a young man of twenty years age, he had dark skin, hair, and dark, deep, proud handsome eyes that are typical of his people. But he was not however typical. Jmahl was king of his people; not only that, but the youngest to succeed the throne in over one hundred years.

As Jmahl approached the hardwood doors to his private chambers, two white-clad servants opened them widely, allowing their king to pass through. Another pair of servants moved to follow the king into his chambers but were waved away by him; the king shut the heavy wooden doors behind him, letting out a contented sigh of relief as her heard the bolts on the door click shut.

King Nagawa had spent the entire day in a stuffy room full of diplomats, trying to make final arrangements for peace-talks between a neighbouring country that his people had been at war with for almost fifty years. What he wanted right now was to be alone.

Jmahl walked through the lush chamber to the balcony. He stayed seated in a comfortable wooden chair, until the sun finally sank below the horizon and the last rays of the day were banished by night.

Jmahl yawned softly, then decided he would get changed and go to bed early.

The king's wardrobe was practically another room altogether. Along one wall was an innumerable amount of extravagant formal clothing; another wall was adorned with more fine clothing that the king wore everyday; and another wall held a mirror in an elegantly carved wooden frame.

Jmahl took a step back as he was startled by the appearance of another person who had been concealed behind a wall of clothing he had just pushed aside. But as his heart slowed down from his initial surprise, Jmahl saw that it was not another person at all, but in fact his own reflection. Someone must have installed another mirror during the day.

Chuckling lightly to himself at his unexpected fright, he waved at the reflection, which also waved back. Leaning in closer, Jmahl pulled a number of faces at his reflection; it had been a long time since he had entertained himself in such a fashion; the responsibilities of his position had left him very little time to himself.

But as the king slowly began to realise that there were subtle differences between the clothing he wore and that his reflection wore; the reflection of the king suddenly winked at him. Jmahl took a step back, startled. He had not winked.

The arm of King Nagawa's "reflection" quickly raised. Before Jmahl could open his mouth to call for help; a cloud of blue-yellow vapour hissed from a can held in the "reflections" hand.

In a matter of seconds, King Jmahl Nagawa was flat on his back staring straight up at the ceiling. Moments later, the dark fog that was unconsciousness crept into his mind and claimed him.

King Nagawa's "reflection" stood over his body, smiling evilly down at the still, national leader. In a few minutes, the "reflection" had Jmahl's body neatly hidden away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

_Mexico, 10: 46 am._

Sam listened to the swish and thud of tennis balls and swallowed the large lump forming on her throat. Crossing her ankles, she burst across the tennis court, the sunlight reflecting off the sunglasses she wore.

Sam and the girls had come to Mexico on vacation; the conclusion of a long stint of difficult missions had given them some much needed and well-deserved R&R.

She pushed her amber-tinted sunglasses up the bridge of her nose, sweat rolled down her cheeks. Teeth that had given up their braces six years ago flashed perfectly as she smiled.

"So what are you planning to do this evening?" Sam asked her friends Clover and Alex as she gave them a powerful serve.

"What are you trying to prove Sam?" Alex watched the ball speed by her. Sam was adept in tennis, though she never did have any formal training.

"Nothing." Sam sighed and flipped her hair.

"Sam, are you still not over it?"" Clover dropped her tennis racket.

"Over about what?"" Sam removed her sunglasses.

"Never mind, I don't want to ruin your day."

Memories of her mother's last Christmas weren't as sharp or as painful as they once had been, but she couldn't bear the sight of holly or shiny coloured balls. It has been a year since Sam cried aloud as she felt her mother touch her face for the last time.  
Gabby had always put a white angel on top of the tree. Except for the last one, when she had been caught up in that dark tunnel she had been sucked into.  
Sam looked at her mother's illness that way, like a tunnel, dark, deep, with hundreds of blind corners and dead ends. It was better to have that tangible vision than the cold comfort of all technical terms in the dozens of books on cancer Sam had pored over. Better, still than all the diagnoses and prognoses she had received in the quiet leather-scented room from respected doctors.

Perhaps time did heal all wounds, but it didn't make her forget

"No Clover, I'm fine. I just want to have a Christmas vacation without problems or missions." Sam said uncomfortably before she picked up the tennis balls and tossed them into the ball stand.

Alex glanced side wards and saw a person carrying bottles of water. She placed her racket on the ground and slipped her black-tinted sunglasses on her pocket.

"I'm just gonna buy a bottle of water." she said.

"Sure, I'll just change my clothes." Sam said before Alex turned her heel.

Striding towards the man, Alex pulled her wallet out and produced two Mexican pesos. Looking up to the man, she felt shivers run down her spine. He looked stern and stiff, not to mention too clean to be a vendor. A drop of sweat was preparing to slide down her nose.

"Are you going to buy? If not please leave. I need to earn money." The imposing vendor declared.  
"Fine, a bottle," she said, handing him the money.  
"Thank you," he said, not hesitating to take the money from her sweaty hands.  
"May I ask where you bought that Rolex?" she pointed to his wrist.  
"Mind your own business." Was the terse reply.  
"Fine," she said, turning her back on him.

As she walked towards the ladies' room, Alex saw the door open. It was Sam and Clover. Sam was dressed in a knee-length skirt, and a cream-coloured Irish coat that covered her skirt. Her red hair fell behind her shoulders.

"Sam, it's hot here. Why are you wearing your coat?" Alex said.

"That's what I told her." Clover said as she ran her hand over her own dress.

"Fine, I'll take it off. Let's go back to our room." She suggested and went past Alex.

Striding down the hall, Clover dropped her cell phone and racket as a room door suddenly burst open in front of her. Clover quickly recovered from her unexpected surprise as the cleaning maid that emerged from the room passed by her; Bending down, Clover slipped her cell phone in her pocket and swung her racket over her shoulders. She looked up as the door to the room closed again; but she did not see Alex or Sam come into view as she had thought they would. A puzzled look crossed her face as she wondered what had happened to her friends.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

_WOOHP HQ, 10:50 am._

Outside a light misty rain had begun to fall; cars in the street were jammed from the last-minute Christmas shopping rush.

Not far away from all of this hustle and bustle was the Headquarters for the World Organization Of Human Protection, or more commonly known as "WOOHP". Every room in the towering building was comfortably heated against the wet, cold temperatures outside that were typical for this time of year. It was in one room in particular that an elder man sat. Waiting.

Jerry Lewis was the man who founded WOOHP.

The lighting in the room slowly increased and the view screen on the wall behind Jerry's desk snapped off. On his computer, he moved briefing files to their appropriate folders; and finished reading a report that had finally been submitted by the Research and Development teams.

A female voice, which sounded rather robotic, spoke; Jerry nodded his head in approval at what the voice told him. The LED powered lights in the office shone dully off his balding head; to think that thirty years ago, that same head was once the proud owner of a healthy thick "afro". How time could be a cruel mistress at times.

There was the sound of familiar screams, and then suddenly –as if by some magic, two young ladies fell from a hole in the ceiling and onto the couch located beneath it. The two of them sat up straight, complaining about the rough ride as they always did; but then looked about themselves for what should have been a third companion.

"Oh dear." Jerry said in his light British accent. He looked down at a small monitor built into his desk; on it he saw another young lady walking slowly down a hotel corridor looking about her for something.

Jerry looked up to the large machine in the wall behind his desk.

"One moment." The female voice had emanated from the machine, its lights blinked as it spoke.

On the small monitor, the young lady was suddenly sucked up into an air-conditioning vent in the ceiling of the hallway she was walking down. A few moments later, she too came tumbling into the room.

"Thank you, Gladis."

They were all here now. Jerry stood up from his leather chair and walked around to the front of his desk.

"Welcome Super-Spies." He greeted them. "I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I'm afraid something rather serious has happened that requires our attention." His apology genuine.

On the large screen behind and just to the right of Jerry's desk, appeared two highlighted areas near the African Continent, plus photographs of two men; one older, probably in his late fifties; the other was a much younger and handsome man.

"For the past fifty years, these two nations have been locked in a brutal war. However over the last year, the two nations have been at negotiations, trying to bring an end to the war.

These negotiations have been a success largely due to the determination of King Nagawa."

The picture of the young king grew until it covered the majority of the screen. Alex and Clover's eyes sparkled at the sight of the handsome man.

Sam's eyes moved from the screen to Jerry, just a slight trace of confusion in them.

"I'm not seeing where we come into all this Jerry."

Alex suddenly caught onto what Sam was saying. "Yeah, isn't ending a war a good thing?"

Jerry's left brow raised. Inwardly he beamed with pride at his spies sharpness.

"We recently received some rather unsettling news from the other nation involved."

The picture on the screen changed to video footage of King Nagawa giving a very vocal speech in front of his palace.

_"…be fooled. Before this season is over, we shall have crushed the enemy, and retribution for all they have done to us shall…_

Jerry looked grimly at Alex, Sam and Clover. "The negotiations between the two governments have broken down literally overnight. What's more, is that President Juhimba believes that something is not right with the whole situation; he himself described King Nagawa as a man who wanted peace between their two peoples more than anyone else."

"So we are going to a royal palace to find out why King Cutie has the sudden change in heart?" Clover quickly said. Obviously quite pleased at the prospect of visiting such an elegant place- even if it was for what would probably be a short spying mission.

"Quite. Spies, we need to find out what exactly is going on- and if possible, get the peace talks back on track. Now for your gadgets; Gladis?"

"It would be my pleasure." Came the reply.

The wall behind Jerry's desk parted, and the floor along the corridor it revealed carried the three spies and their boss down its length. Gladis; Jerry's mechanical assistant, moved along her tracks built into the ceiling.

"First of all, we have the M-Ray contact Lenses in Aquamarine. Also, Ice Queen Perfume." The gadgets were handed to the spies as Gladis announced each one.

"And a new gadget. The MP3 Infiltrator; a normal looking MP3 player that is anything but ordinary; this gadget is able to hack into any computer and retrieve its contents, it also has the ability to emit a powerful EMP burst." The MP3 player was handed to Alex, who scrutinised the small purple device.

"You say it can hack into any computer?" She said.

A metal hand extended towards the new gadget and pulled it from Alex's hands. "Perhaps Sam would be a better choice to hold onto this." Clover couldn't help but smile widely behind her hand at the way Gladis seemed to suddenly turn on some kind of self-preservation at the thought of such a gadget in Alex's hands.

"And finally, the Jetpack Backpack. These have received a new upgrade girls; flip the switch on the shoulder-strap and you will reach supersonic speed. Be careful."

With the briefing out of the way, there was only one thing left to do.

"Good luck on the mission spies." Jerry said pleasantly. The moment he had finished speaking, the white tiled floor beneath the three super-spies fell open, and Alex, Sam and Clover were away on yet another mission.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

_Nagawa Family Palace, 7:00 pm._

The sun had surrendered it place in the sky to the half crescent moon a little over an hour ago. The silver moon cast its glow across the landscape, turning it blue-grey and a pleasant cool breeze swept across the plains. Atop a small hill, concealed by a small thicket lay the three prone forms of Clover, Alex and Sam; through binoculars, they observed the natural night-time colours broken by the yellow glow of lights from the majestic Nagawa Family Palace a kilometre away.

The Palace was impressive. It towered at one hundred and twenty meters high, and the side the three super-spies could see was four hundred meters long. Even at night, one could see that it was bright white marble with a massive glass dome that served as a roof for some part of the Palace. A number of balconies protruded from the side of the Palace wall, most likely coming from private bed chambers or some other room that had the privilege of the added aesthetic it got from it occupants being able to walk outside to see an incredible view.

The golden lights that came from inside the Palace poured through the countless windows and onto the massive courtyard outside. The main feature outside the Palace was a large water fountain that hosted a number of life-sized recreations of native wildlife, carved out of Jade; an outside observer would believe the recreations were uniformly placed at random places inside the fountain- in fact they were placed according to the four winds North, South, East and West, and according to where the largest concentration of those particular animals could be found.

A few hundred meters from the Palace itself was the ten-meter tall fence that kept intruders from passing; and patrolling the perimeter were a number of guards- their silhouettes hard to make out despite the light from the Palace and the moon.

Sam panned across the fence until she centred on the Main Gate, noting a small cluster of people gathered outside it.

"I think we might just have a way inside." She said as she zoomed in closer on the people near the gate. It was a group of reporters; most from local news stations, but there was a couple from international news groups.

Clover and Alex took note of the reporters too. "This might be easier than I thought." Said Clover.

The three spies stood up and Sam pulled out her X-Powder. With the press of a button, the screen displayed a menu of various disguises that the three often found invaluable. The next button pressed selected the reporters outfit that was displayed, and in moments a wide beam of light flooded over Sam, Clover and Alex and covered their green, red and yellow spy outfits in their new disguises.

Clover was pleased with her white blouse and light-red blazer and knee-length skirt, also very much pleased with the CNN logo on the silver pen in her blazer's chest pocket, and identification badge also pinned to the blazer; the only impractical item on her person was the lightly blue-tinted sun-glasses she wore (completely useless in the night-time)- but who honestly thought that style had to be practical.

Sam and Alex found themselves attired in charcoal trousers; Sam in a light-green long-sleeved shirt; Alex in a pale yellow short-sleeved shirt with matching vest. The identification badges they wore placed them as reporters for Sky News.

With a nod to each other, the three of them started toward the group of reporters.

_7:14 pm._

For a nation that was at war, security procedures at the main gate had been surprisingly lax. The guards at the gate had simply gathered all the reporters into a group and escorted them through the courtyard over a gravel footpath, past the Jade water-fountain and straight into the Palace. Apparently there was to be an interview with King Nagawa tonight, thus explaining the presence of the international media, which suited the three super-spies just fine as it made their job easier. But not by much.

The reporters along with the disguised super-spies were escorted throughout the Palace until they finally came to a large elegant hall. The floor was blue sapphire and the walls held their white marble and were arrayed with portraits of the past Kings. And a hundred meters above them was the large glass dome that could be seen from outside; the stars above twinkled delicately. The glass dome did not cover the entire ceiling of the hall; it instead only covered the majority of the centre, leaving more white marble to complete the ceiling. Arrayed around the large dome- so as not to obstruct the outside view, were four chandeliers that provided light to the hall during the night.

The reporters milled about the hall; it would appear that the interview was to take place in this hall shortly.

Alex, Clover and Sam moved to one corner of the hall, pretending to look at one of the portraits; the three were awed by what they saw in the hall, but were also a little disgusted by the overwhelming display of wealth at the same time.

"We're going to have to find a way to ditch these guys." Sam said.

"Good luck with that," Alex said lightly nodding in the direction of a guard that was slowly making his way towards them. "These guards aren't letting anyone out of their sights."

"Well we better, because I don't think we're going to get back in here again so easily." Clover added.

The trio stopped talking as the approaching guard pointed at them and indicated that they should return to the centre of the hall.

A dark-skinned man dressed in blue and red garb entered the hall. He quickly spoke to the local news reporters in their native tongue; when he finished, those reporters began to make their way to exit the hall. The man approached and addressed the remaining reporters in English.

"His excellency King Nagawa will be unable to attend tonight's interview as he has been unavoidably detained."

"What are ya talkin' aboot?!" Shouted a burly journalist next to Clover. "Yuv had us 'ere all night n' now yer tellin' us he's suddenly 'onuvayluble'; where's ya-" The Scotsman's thinkly accented voice filled the entire hall, but was suddenly cut off as two guards suddenly approached, unslinging their rifles as they came. The man took the not-so-subtle hint and began calmly heading back the way everyone had just come.

Their window of opportunity was vanishing with every step they took down the hallway to the main doors of the Palace, and Sam, Clover and Alex each knew it. Desperately, their minds tried to find a way to sneak away from the escorts, but there wasn't any possibility of that happening. But all that changed with the commotion that suddenly burst a little ahead of them.

"What are ya dooin! Ach, yor gonna 'av ta pay for that!" The Scottish journalist shouted. He had concealed a small camcorder and had been recording the interior of the Palace until one of the guards had spotted it and smashed it after snatching it from him. His resulting outburst served only to draw the attention of the remaining guards.

"It's now or never." Sam whispered. And the three quickly darted down a corridor they were passing, and turned left into another hallway to keep from sight.

The guards forced the journalist down the hallway along with the rest of the reporters, completely unaware that they were now shy three reporters.

_7:40 pm._

"Ouch, careful Alex."

"Sorry, Clover."

"Quiet you two." Came the muffled whispers of the three spies.

Sam, Clover and Alex had continued down the hallway they had used to evade their escort with the reporters; they had searched each room on their way and had found nothing to help them in their investigations. They had found a staircase that took them up another level and failing to find anything on that level, they had continued onto the third floor. Which is where they found security was much tighter.

The three spies were now crawling through the air-conditioning ducts so as to avoid the many guards that patrolled the floor.

There was a faint light ahead. The trio crawled through the cold, dark confined space, headed towards that light. It was a vent; actually, more of a light-vent combination built into the air-conditioning duct.

Sam lifted it up a crack, enough to peek into what was below. It appeared to be a cleaner's closet. She lifted the light-vent out and dropped into the closet, followed by Alex and then Clover.

Sam peered through the keyhole in the door, but seeing only wall on the other side she took out her X-Powder, held it to the keyhole and pressed a button. A small tendril like piece of metal wormed its way out of the X-Powder and into the keyhole. Barely noticeable on the other side of the keyhole- in the hallway outside the door; the end of that metal piece peeked through and twisted this way and that, taking in what was in the hallway. On the X-Powder screen, Sam, Clover and Alex could see outside their cramped closet and into the hallway beyond.

At the far end of the hallway to their left was nothing, but to their right at the far end, there were four armed guards standing outside a room with a heavy wooden door.

"That's a lot of muscle to guard one room." Alex observed.

"Must be important. Might be worth a look." Clover said.

Alex and Sam nodded their agreement.

At that moment, a white-clad servant exited the room and began walking down the hallway. As the servant got closer, Sam hit another button on the X-Powder; the devise scanned the servant as they passed the closet. Another press of a button and the wide beam of light washed over the three spies clothing and made them identical into those of the servant's.

"Eww, Sam, why are we in these tacky robes?" Complained Clover.

"We might be able to pass ourselves off as servants to get into that room." Sam explained.

Quickly but quietly, the three of them stepped out of the closet and into the hallway. There was no reaction from the guards outside the room; they were positioned two to each wall of the hallway with no way to see all the way down the hallway so they were too far away to see the spies in their peripheral vision.

Sam, Clover and Alex approached the room cautiously, keeping their eyes cast towards the ground as they had seen the servant do. The guards eyed Clover and Sam suspiciously, but made no move to stop them; the robes they wore identified them as the king's personal servants.

Once they had entered the room and shut the heavy wooden doors behind them, Sam, Clover and Alex breathed a sigh of relief. Their luck so far seemed to be holding.

"All those guards for a bedroom?" Said a surprised Alex.

"I'm betting that this is not just any bedroom." Replied Sam.

"You're telling me. Look at this place; it's like my fantasy room come to life- only without the wide screen T.V., closet- oh the view." Said Clover, as she darted around the room and loving every bit of it- especially the view from the balcony.

"This is probably the king's room; that would explain the guards. Lets search for clues." Sam said.

"What kind of clues?" Asked Alex.

"I don't know; documents, a computer, anything that might let us know what could be going on here." Replied Sam.

They each knew that an office would be a better place to find such things, but so far they had had no such luck in finding anything like that.

Alex and Sam were moving towards a door in the grand bedroom which they figured would be an extension of the room, Clover was near the main entry door when there was a faint groaning sound. Someone was coming into the room.

Alex and Sam quickly hid in the room the room they were about to search, shutting the door behind them; Clover was left hiding behind the main door as it opened. There was no doubt that she was about to be caught. But then an idea came to her that might just help her out of any serious danger. While still hidden behind those large wooden doors, she activated her own X-Powder's disguise program and selected the reporter's disguise.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

_Nagawa Family Palace, 7:50 pm._

"We've got to help her." Alex whispered harshly to her friend. Sam was kneeling next to the door, her ear pressed hard against it trying to catch some hint of what was happening. Through the door she heard the muffled voices of Clover and another person.

_"…Unavoidably detained? That has got to be the oldest excuse in the book."_

"_How did you get in here?!"_

"…_It wasn't easy, but I'm sure it will have been well worth the effort, Jmahl- may I call you Jmahl?"_

"_No."_

"Hey, fair enough your majesty; but I was promised an interview, and I have a habit of getting things my way."

Clover was clearly speaking with King Nagawa. Sam was confident that her friend would be able to handle herself in this situation, but she was ready to jump out and help her friend if need be. Alex pressed her ear to the door now too. Listening.

_"…Leave us…Very well. You may have your interview."[/I_ Nagawa had spoken with what sounded like amusement in his voice.

_"Well, seeing as we're all alone now, lets get this started."_

Clover had done it! She had managed to give her friends a few more minutes to figure a way out of this predicament.

"We need to find a way out of here." Alex and Sam looked around them and noticed for the first time that this new room was in fact a giant closet. Racks of elegant expensive looking clothing was hanging along almost every wall, the farther-most wall bore a large mirror that covered almost its entire face.

"There's a door over there. Quick, we don't have much time." Sam said as she started towards a door that was halfway down the room sized closet.

"I don't know Sammie; Clover can really talk."

The room behind that door was in darkness; with a little fumbling; Alex had managed to find the light switch. Another closet.

Alex and Sam began to wonder if the king honestly thought he needed this many clothes, that is, until they noticed that these were not like the elegant robes and suits in the previous room, but were in fact dresses designed for the Queen- or in the unmarried Nagawa's case, a _future_ Queen.

"I don't see any way out of here." Sam said. Alex looked distracted for a moment- listening for something. Sam fell silent upon seeing the concentration on her friends face.

There it was. Faint but still there. If the two hadn't thought any better, they could have sworn it was the sound of someone snoring. They followed the sound to a cupboard that was built into the wall. Opening the cupboard, they found it was full of shoes; that is all they saw in there, but yet the sound was a little louder now. Their interest now fully taken by the mystery of what thing could be making such a sound, they began having a closer look.

Tapping on the sidewalls only proved that they were mostly solid, however the rear wall was hollow. Sam began to think that the sounds might have just been water pipes behind the wall, and told Alex so. Alex, who had been inspecting below a shelf, also began to think her friend was right, and began to stand up; however, she hit her head hard on the shelf above as she did. Neither spy was expecting what happened next.

The shelves of shoes began to slowly recede into the sidewalls, slowly revealing the bare white rear wall; once the shelves were out of the way, the rear wall slowly began to rise up into the ceiling. Behind it was yet another room- although this one was merely the size of a small office this time.

Arrayed in glass encased tables were all manner of jewellery, but it was not these precious gems that had the attention of Sam and Alex; rather it was the man who was tied up laying in the middle of the room- a man who bore a striking resemblance of King Nagawa.

The snoring sounds ceased as the lights in the room automatically turned on.

The tied up man stirred; looking through bleary eyes at the two young ladies standing in the unused closet. He was confused. They wore the robes of one of his personal servants, but he had not seen them before.

"Who are you?" Asked the dark haired one.

"I am Jmahl Nagawa." Was his groggy answer.

Although Clover might have been smiling on the outside; inside, she was groaning and wanted this torture to end.

She had only asked one question: "So what are your reasons for calling off the peace treaty negotiations?"

She was now regretting having asked that question. It had been a full seven minutes and King Nagawa still hadn't stopped talking- but it had nothing to do with her question. Sure his first sentence or two had started out with his answering, but then he started going on with some history lesson about migrating animals- that had no relevance to the subject whatsoever. Either Nagawa was trying to bore the 'reporter' into calling the interview short, or he really loved the sound of his own voice. Although the former conclusion would seem most likely; Clover suspected that the latter might also be a distinct possibility.

But she had to buy her friends as much time as they needed. Even if it cost her her sanity.

All of a sudden the door to the room Sam and Alex had taken refuge in burst open, and Clover's two friends along with someone else rushed into the room. For a moment, she thought that her friends had been caught, but then she noticed that this other person with them was not trying to chase them down, but in fact it looked like he was rather standing [I_with[/I_ them. Then the young man's appearance began to register. Dark deep eyes, rounded yet strong jaw, and with a regal air about him; it was an uncanny similarity to King Jmahl Nagawa.

Clover quickly moved away from the chair and table she had been sitting at with the king. Moving closer to her friends.

"Your charade is over impostor." Started the young man with Sam and Alex. Clover instantly spun around to face the king she had been sitting with a few moments ago; taking up a fighting stance. Before anyone could do anything more, the 'king' sitting in his chair at the table bounded across the room with surprising speed. No one had even had time to react.

"Guards!" He shouted. Instantly the large wooden doors of the kings private chambers swung open and the four guards burst into the room.

"These people are trying replace your king with an impostor." He then said.

"Are you ki-" Alex didn't finish her statement, as she was forced along with Sam, Clover and the real King Nagawa to retreat from the hail of bullets that were suddenly let loose upon them by the rifles of the kings guards. They managed to run back into the closet and shut the door. The bullets splintering the wooden door as they mercilessly pounded against it.

"Anyone want to fill me in on what's going on?!" Clover asked.

"The King you've been talking with is a fake." Replied Alex. "This one is the real one- hey, where's he going?"

The real king Nagawa ran towards the mirror at the far wall and began feeling around the hand-carved frame. He found what he was looking for; a slight lump behind a knot in the wood. Pressing that lump, he backed away from the mirror as it rotated inwards, revealing a passage behind it.

"Quickly. The alarms have been raised, it won't be safe for us here now." He darted into the passage.

The three spies followed, spurred on by the pounding of the king's guards trying to kick the closet-room's door down.

They ran along the dimly lit passage until they came to a dead end. The passage lead nowhere now, all that was in there with them was a cart that strangely resembled an old gold-miners cart.

"Get in." Nagawa said as he himself leapt into the cart.

"We _all_ can't fit in there." Said Alex.

"We'll have to." Sam said.

With some effort, the four of them managed to squeeze into the overcrowded cart.

"Hold on." Nagawa warned, as he pressed a green button beside his knee.

The cart did not roll. It did not go forward, back or even from side to side. It instead, went straight down. The floor below the cart gave way and the cart along with its occupants fell down through darkness. The cart fell silently; Nagawa held on for dear life; and the three spies screamed at the unexpected event.

It felt like they were falling forever; their fright and the darkness served to reinforce this belief. In actual fact, the free-fall lasted no more than five seconds. But free-fall in darkness alters one's perception of time. After those initial terrifying five seconds, the cart finally made contact with tracks that gently sloped the cart away from its vertical plummet and changed its course forward.

Orange-yellow sparks flew up behind the cart as it screamed along the metal tracks through the pitch-black emergency escape passage.

Finally the cart slowed and stopped. The king struggled standing up and then took hold of a ladder rung above his head and began climbing up. Sam, Alex and Clover followed yet again; wondering where they were going.

At the end of the ladder was a metal hatch. The king entered a code combination into a number pad in the wall and the hatch opened; revealing a starry sky above.

_We could really use a wa-_

Sam didn't finish her thought. A helicopter loomed overhead as she pulled herself out of the hole in the ground that led from the escape passage. The passage had lead them to the National Park a little over two kilometres from the Palace.

Nagawa began to slowly back away, his hand raised against the glare of the spot light from the helicopter. He was certain that he was about to meet his end, that his 'reflection' had anticipated his escape.

But squinting past the glare of the spot-light, Sam saw the WOOHP logo.

"It's alright. They're with us." She said.

A rope ladder dropped from the helicopter.

"After you your majesty."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

_Tel Aviv International Airport, 4:30 am._

For the hundredth time, the man collected his ticket. For the hundredth time, he stood in line to customs and had his false passport checked. For the hundredth time, he passed through customs without any problems.

But for the first time, he did not stop at the cafeteria in the international lounge for his customary black tea. For the first time he actually used the public restroom.

Locking the door to the stall, he sat on the toilet lid and pulled out his laptop from its carry-case he had slung over his shoulder. The little machine whirred to life and began its start-up. The man plugged in the small devise into the USB drive that would scatter the laptops signal and prevent anyone from eves dropping on his work.

After enabling the laptops stolen counter-intrusion software, he brought up a messaging server an associate of his had devised for private communication.

_**Is there a problem with the merchandise?**_ came up onto the screen.

_No._ The man typed.

_But we have a problem._

_**What kind of a problem?**_

_A spy problem._

_**Government?**_

_No. Private._

It was a few seconds before a reply came back.

_**WOOHP?**_

The man was surprised that this person had come to that name so quickly.

_Yes, that is what my sources have informed me. The plan may be in jeopardy._

_**This was to be expected.**_

_Expected?!_

**I told you from the start. Such a dramatic change in the royal's diplomatic stance will not go unnoticed. It was bound to draw someone's attention.**

_So you keep telling me. In any case, the plan may have to be aborted._

_**Not necessarily. If I'm right, this problem should solve itself. We'll continue with my plan.**_

_My plan._

_**Yes. Your plan. Of course.**_

I'm heading to Indonesia to finish up some business. I'll be back in a few days; if this matter doesn't "solve itself" by that time…

_**There will be no need for your idle threats, Svernykov. I'll see you when you arrive.**_

_**HOST DISCONNECTED**_

The man closed down his laptop and left the restroom. He hated the way this person had so callously disregarded protocol and had used his name; it was a childish and stupid thing to do- especially in such a high security location as the airport.

He loathed the way they always wrestled with his authority. But if his plan worked- no; _when_ his plan worked, and this person was of no more use to him, he would finally be able to be rid of the pest.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6**

_WOOHP HQ, 6:00 am._

Jerry leaned back in his chair, listening intently to Sam, Clover and Alex brief him on the events that had occurred at the Palace and what had ultimately forced them to bring King Nagawa to WOOHP Headquarters.

"So all we have to do is bust back in there and expose that fraud for what he is, put the real king back on the throne; easy, we'll be back in Mexico by tonight." Clover said after they had finished filling Jerry in on the details.

"I don't think it's going to be that easy, Clover" Sam said.

"We tried that earlier and look what happened." Alex added.

While Jerry and his spies conversed, GLADIS's "eye" centred on a small strand of hair not belonging to her that clung to her red spy outfit; reasoning this to possibly be evidence that could be useful to the case, a thin metallic arm slinked out of the ceiling of Jerry's office and plucked the strand away, she would have it analysed.

The three spies looked quizzically at GLADIS for a moment before Jerry spoke again.

"I am afraid that it won't be that simple at all. As you found out, the palace guards are fiercely loyal to this impostor; king Nagawa's people believe the man sitting on the throne now to be their real ruler. Besides, I don't believe it is this impostor that we have to worry about right now."

The three spies were silent a moment, confused that Jerry would not consider the person impersonating a national leader unimportant; but they quickly understood what he was hinting at.

"You mean whoever put the impostor where he is now." Alex stated.

"Someone has got to be masterminding this whole thing; if we put the real king back on the throne, there'd be nothing to stop them from replacing him again. So if we find out whoever is behind this and stop them, then Jmahl will be safe from being replaced again."

"Great, and once that's done we can get back to Mexico. What? My tan needs some ferocious work."

"We are questioning King Nagawa to find out if there's anyone he knows who may stand to benefit from the cease of the peace talks. Until then, there is nothing more you can do until we have more information.

"I'll get in touch with you once we have any leads on the case, until then you can at least relax a little bit. I felt so awful having to call you in on your vacation that I had you three booked in to the Beverly Hills Day Spa- it's the least I can do." Jerry said apologetically.

Jerry was pleased to at least see his three super-spies brighten up at mention of the gift he had given them- granted, it was GLADIS who had suggested the Spa as the peace offering.

When the three spies left, Jerry sat at his desk for a few minutes, finishing off some paperwork. As he put his signature on the last form, the door to his office burst open.

Jerry had been so engrossed in his work that he had been caught by surprise; with cat-like reflexes he stood in a fighting stance behind his desk, ready for any attacker. But he saw there was only one person entering his office. Jerry was surprised to see the face of a man he had not seen in thirty years, short cropped red hair, a grey pin-striped suit, his green eyes were filled with disdain and what looked to be a trace of smugness.

"What are you doing here?" Jerry asked, still a little surprised to see this man.

"Don't act like you don't know." The man said as he tossed a document onto Jerry's desk.

Jerry took the document and skimmed through its contents, his eyes widening in disbelief as he read.

"This is a mistake." He defended.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7**

_Beverly Hills Shopping Mall, 4:30 pm._

The morning at the spa had been unbelievably relaxing to say the least. Sam, Clover and Alex had arrived at the spa at around eight; expecting to receive the basics the establishment offered, the three were surprised much to their delight to find out that arrangements had been made for them to receive VIP treatment. As the three were treated to the very best, they joked at how bad Jerry must have felt for him to organise such a coveted appointment.

They were now at the shopping mall, drinking coffee.

They were unwinding, not talking about anything specific; just talking. That's when Alex got a very thoughtful expression on her face.

"What is it Alex?" Clover asked over the top of her mug.

"We're relaxed and having fun." She replied.

"And what's wrong with that?" Clover responded, as if it shouldn't be any other way.

"Well, doesn't Jerry usually 'WOOHP' us away about now?" Was Alex's response.

There was a few moments silence amongst the three of them, as if they were expecting at any moment to be sucked down the nearby rubbish bin, or suddenly be swallowed up by the cushioned bench they sat upon. But there was no such occurrence. All there was was the bustle of normal business, and the very loud voice of a nearby customer.

"Maybe Jerr's just taking his time?" Clover said hopefully.

"Well he definitely is taking a long time. He's had to find out harder stuff before and been in contact sooner. Maybe we should check up-" Sam was cut short by Clover.

"If Jerr want's to take his time- I say we let him; I mean,-"

But before Clover could continue, the three were intruded upon by a stranger.

"Excuse me lassies; ya mind if I take a seat 'ere." It was the same Scots reporter from the Nagawa Palace. Before any of the girls could respond, he took a seat across from Clover.

"Thanks a lot. I've been hanging out for a decent cup of coffee all day, not that 'orrible airline stuff that tastes like…oh heck, I 'aint got a cloo wot it tastes like- but it sure 'aint coffee. Yeah- see I jus' flew in today; do a lot of travellin' I do- I'm a journalist ya see; the names Pat McDuffy, maybe ya heard of me?"

The man spoke in almost one long constant stream of words that just seemed to run into each other. As he mentioned that he was a journalist, he gave Clover a look, as if the fact he was a journalist was supposed to impress her. It didn't; Clover simply smiled awkwardly, trying hard not to be creeped out by the guy who seemed to have an eye for her.

Pat McDuffy obviously had a high opinion of himself- an opinion the three girls sitting across from him didn't share. Desperately they racked their brains, trying to find an excuse to leave quickly; but before they could find an excuse, Pat was talking again.

"Yeap, lost for words- I can see it. Yeah, won me second Pulitzer for that political scandal in Estonia las' year- but now I'm onto somthin' even bigger." Again, his words reeked of self importance and pride; and still he looked at Clover, looking to see if his words impressed her.

Pat leaned in, lowering his voice- which was quite an accomplishment for him considering his previous volume seemed to have been stuck on deafening-rock-show-volume.

"You've probably 'eard of that terrorist group that's been working quietly 'ere in the States- pretendin' to be all goody-do-gooders; well, I have it from a reliable source that…What? Ya didn know about the terrorist's?"

Sam, Clover and Alex had given Pat a blank stare at his mention of a terrorist group- thus eliciting his last question.

"Ach; well I don' blame ya- it's all very new, I only found out about it las' night myself, so it's only probably bein' whispered about on the normal news about now. Them poor excuses for journalists and reporters will only 'ave scraps compared to wot I got." Pat gave a conceited smile and gave a quick wink to Clover.

"Yeap; whoda thought that WOOHP would be behind it all eh?" The man sat back, taking a large gulp of his drink.

The three girls were dumbstruck at what they had just heard.

"What was that?" Sam blurted out.

"Wot? That WOOHP lot are terrorists?"

"Yes!" The three almost shouted.

"Well it's true; ya see, they even tried assassinatin' some king last night- the security even got foot-" Pat cut himself short as he scrutinized the three girls closely.

"You." He said, pointing his finger accusingly at them.

"All of you; you were there- I recognise ya now, you were reporters there! Ach! Ya won' be getting nothin' more outta me- You can all get yer own source!"

Pat stood up, knocking his chair over and left, muttering himself as he went.

Clover, Alex and Sam looked at each other. Without a word, Sam quickly pulled out her X-Com. They hoped to see the ever-comforting image and voice of Jerry's hologram greeting them; but as Sam opened the small device, they were greeted only by static.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8**

_WOOHP HQ, 4:35 pm._

WOOHP was in darkness; the normally busy offices were silent, the many computers of it's research and development sections were off, the only illumination in the building came from red emergency lights that the new building's proprietors had not yet figured out how to turn off.

All this had happened since the red-haired man had come; he and fifty government agents.

While the red-haired man was inwardly gloating at Jerry's initial protests, government agents swept through the immense building, flashing their official badges and documents and arrested the WOOHP personnel. The power had been cut to all but the most sensitive areas of WOOHP.

Jerry was locked in his office; he was under a house arrest of sorts. Except for the emergency lights which cast the room in an eerie dim red, all power had been cut to it.

For the past hour and a half, Jerry had been tinkering with a small power supply box embedded into the wall concealed behind his photocopier.

With primary power cut off, he was uselessly cut off from the rest of the world, trapped in his office; but right now, his goal was the supply for the emergency lighting system. There was not much power in those systems, but it would be enough to reroute power to one-maybe two other systems he needed for a short time- one of which would allow him to contact the only three spies he had which were not under guard…not yet anyway; at least that's what he hoped.

_Beverly Hills Mall, 4:40pm_

"There is no way this can be happening. What is going on?" Said a despaired Alex.

"It has to be a joke right? There is no way anyone could honestly believe that WOOHP are terrorists." Clover put in.

Alex, Clover and Sam had found a secluded spot near an emergency exit. Their coffee's long forgotten, they were trying to make sense of the entire situation.

True to Pat McDuffy's word, the news of the attempted assassination of King Nagawa by the 'criminal syndicate' WOOHP; with it was footage of the three (thankfully unrecognisable) spies confronting the 'king'; this was followed up by an image of a helicopter flying away from the palace- the WOOHP logo on its side was enhanced for recognition.

"As much as I would like to hope it is a joke, I don't think it is. WOOHP's in trouble." Sam said, mostly to herself.

"Wait. You believe that journalist guy?" Alex asked shocked.

"Of course not." Sam hissed. "I mean that someone has set this all up- and clearly WOOHP is the target."

There was a faint beeping sound; clover reached into her purse and took out her X-powder; as she opened it, a heavily distorted image of Jerry appeared.

Sitting at a bench behind a small wall of indoor plants were two men. They tried desperately to blend in with the crowd around them, but their white shirts, black pants and jackets seemed to scream, "We are government agents, go about your business." They watched the three girls by the exit.

"Jerry." The three girls spoke as one.

_Girls..see yo-…alright."_

"Jerry, what's going on? The news is accusing WOOHP of being criminals and terrorists." Alex asked hurriedly.

_"I know…ear that someone has gone…lengths to frame…"_ Jerry's image completely cut out for a moment.

_"…don't have much time girls. The timing between…is too close to be coincidence…whoever is behind the Nagawa…must be involved. I managed to get…he said the only person…gaining from the peace talks failure would be…dealer…Ivan Svernykov- apparently he's…selling to both sides in the war…GLADIS managed to…he's in Jakarta- the Renault Resort…to go…careful girls-."_ The holo-image cut out and did not return.

The three spies looked to each other; concern and worry was mirrored on each face.

"Where's Jakarta?" Clover finally broke the silence that had fallen upon them.

The two men nodded at some voice only they heard through the earpieces they wore. Together, almost like a mirror, they stood and slowly made their way towards the three girls.

"Look at this." Sam said as she spotted the two very conspicuous men approaching.

"Wonder what they want." Alex said innocently.

"Not sure, but I've had my fill of creepy guys for the day." Clover said. She looked at the small red box nailed to the wall beside her. [I_'Break glass in case of EMERGENCY'[/I_ It had written in bold.

"I think this applies." She said as she slammed her elbow through the glass, thus activating the malls fire alarm.

Panicking people ran about, blocking the path of the two government agents; Sam, Clover and Alex quickly left through the emergency exit, their footsteps echoing down the concrete passage. By the time the two men get through to the door, the three girls were long gone.

_WOOHP HQ, 4:45pm._

Jerry gave a sigh; he had done his best, he could only hope his spies had understood his message through the horrible distortion caused by the lack of power being fed into the holo-communications system.

"I finished the analysis of that strand of hair I recovered from Clover." GLADIS said. Her primary power had been cut out with the rest of the building, but her emergency onboard power-cells were enough to keep her powered for a week if necessary.

"I believe you may want to see the results for yourself." She said as a mechanical arm descended from the ceiling and handed Jerry a piece of paper.

Jerry squinted at the writing and charts on the sheet; it was hard to make out in the dim light, but what he saw made his stomach knot.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9**

_Whiteman__Airport, 6:00pm._

Whiteman Airport shone brightly in the dark of the early, winter night. It's many runways were alight with row upon row of red and yellow guiding lights. Airport security and maintenance patrol vehicles darted around like fireflies in the dark, the airport itself was a smashing blend of colours; whites, reds, yellows, blues. From the air, the entire view was quite spectacular.

The airport was very busy; families and relatives arriving for the Christmas holidays and people heading to other places in the world to spend their Christmases, this is what made up the majority of the crowds at the airport. In fact, it was so busy, it was hard to find a clear place to walk- what with all the luggage everybody towed with them.

But in this entire throng, there were three people who were not going anywhere to celebrate.

Sam, Clover and Alex were stuck behind a family that was being greeted by an elderly couple, they were saying their hello's and giving their hugs, their bags and suitcases spread out over the floor, preventing anyone who wanted to pass by from passing in the crowded space. The whole thing was touching to watch, but at the same time it was highly inconsiderate.

The three were at the airport for the simple reason being that they had had no way of getting to Jakarta- which the girls had found out was almost completely on the other side of the world, in the country of Indonesia. Without Jerry or the resources of WOOHP, they would have to find their own way.

Ivan Svernykov was a Russian man in his early fifties, or at least one of his aliases was; what the three had been able to learn from the X-powder's onboard database and handy Internet connection was that he was a suspected arms dealer operating in a number of countries, quite obviously the 'suspicions' of his dealing were true; according to King Nagawa, he had been selling arms to both King Nagawa's and President Juhimba's nations in their ongoing war- that much they had managed to piece together from Jerry's broken message; a treaty between those two nations would mean an end to business for Ivan. Aside from those little snippets of information, the three spies were unable to come up with anything more on him, apparently he was very cautious- which made things difficult for authorities to track him. It was a stroke of pure luck that GLADIS had been able to find him at all- yet alone on such short notice.

At last the family had finally realised that they were holding up the growing throng of people that was forming up behind the three girls, and started to move to make room for everyone trying to get by.

"About time." Clover huffed as they went by.

They walked through the airport a little farther, dodging and weaving through the people bustling about until they could see a flight schedule hanging from the high white ceiling. It's yellow LED lights arranged to form words numbers showed the varied departure times for every flight. There was no sign of a flight to Indonesia.

"Wait here, I'll see if there's any flight's that might at least be headed in that direction." Sam said as she headed towards to the ticket collection counters.

"This place is so packed." Clover said as she pressed herself against the white wall behind her to make way for another family trying to make its way through crowd.

"You know, I didn't realise how much we rely on Jerry to get us around. I mean, we're usually WOOHPed away to wherever it is we're needed; now we gotta try and get to the other side of the world. At this rate we'll never get there." Alex said. Reluctantly, Clover had to agree with her.

Half an hour later, Sam came back, by this time the crowd had significantly lessened; they must have arrived at the same time a number of flights had arrived.

"There are no direct flights to Indonesia." Sam started.

"Alex and Clover sighed in disappointment and frustration.

"But;" She continued, "The guy at the counter said that there's a flight to Honolulu in forty-five minutes that connects to Vanuatu and then to Jakarta."

"Talk about taking the long way around." Said Clover.

"It's the only way." Sam consoled.

"But we have one more problem." Alex added. "I'm not sure about you two, but I don't exactly carry a few thousand dollars in cash on me everywhere I go." It was an unfortunate circumstance; without the money to pay for the airfare, they were going nowhere.

Hope seemed to have vanished from them; but then Alex's head jerked up as if something had hit her. Clover and Sam looked at her, worried.

"I just had an idea." Alex said smiling widely.

"Oh is that what that was?" Clover said, mimicking Alex's head jerk.

"It sure looked like…something." Sam.

Alex grabbed her friends by the hand and quickly led them into a restroom. In the first stroke of good fortune that night for the girls, the restroom was empty of other people.

"Sammie, give me your X-powder." Alex said excitedly.

Sam had no sooner pulled out the small device than Alex practically snatched it away from her. Alex grinned, her white teeth flashing, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. She keyed through the disguise menu until she came to what she was looking for. As she pressed down, victoriously, on the select button, a white beam of light enveloped the three girls. Instantly, their clothes were transformed into those of flight attendants royal blue uniforms.

"Alex?" Sam asked.

"Flight attendants and pilots fly for free;" Alex quickly explained. "All we have to do is pass ourselves off as attendants."

"I don't think that'll be a problem." Clover said while she admired herself in the mirror.

"How is it you know this?" Sam enquired.

"I saw it on a movie- 'Try and catch me'; it was based on a true story." Alex replied.

"Oh I remember that movie, that lead actor was hot." Was Clover's input.

_7:10pm._

"Did that movie happen show us a way to get past customs officers?" Sam asked.

They were only about a hundred meters from getting on the flight to Honolulu, but now there was yet another obstacle in their way- Customs.

"Actually…no, I think all the flights in the movie were domestic. Do you recall, Clover?"

"Uh, was this before or after the sauna scene?" Clover asked unhelpfully.

"Okay…" Sam said, trying to figure out what to do.

"Do we even have passports?" Alex asked. The thought had not occurred to them until this moment. Quickly they checked their pockets and remarkably enough, found passports for each.

"What doesn't WOOHP think of?" Alex said offhandedly.

At the very end of the customs inspection counters was a young customs officer; he was sweating (something easily seen because of the strong lights picking up the glisten), nervous and probably new. Perfect.

"With me girls, this might be easier than we hoped." Clover started off towards the officer. Alex and Sam followed closely, having seen where Clover was going and what she meant.

Sam, Clover and Alex came to the officer at the same time.

"One at a time, please." He said licking his lips.

Clover gave the young man a dazzling smile.

"Do we have to? We're running late for our flight."

The officer was unsure what to do a moment, but any resolve he had was melted by the smile he was getting from the attractive blonde before him.

"I shouldn't, but seeing as you work here; let me see your passports."

They handed the young man their passports. WOOHP was ingenious for making the impossible possible, but the odds of their passports being valid (especially with WOOHP effectively shut down and under scrutiny) were very low. He ran the crucial pieces of paper through the computer.

"Do we have to go through [Iall[/I the formalities?" Sam asked.

"We only have a few minutes really." Alex chimed in.

"Surely you can bend the rules a little?" Clover added; she threw in her patented hair flip-smile to seal the deal.

The young man was far to distracted by the three girls combined pleads and Clovers devastatingly effective hair flip-smile to notice the notice that came up on the computer screen that were telling him to call security to detain them.

"These check out fine." He said sheepishly as he stamped the passports.

"Thanks." Alex and Sam said as they passed through customs.

"Oh no," Clover whispered to herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted two men dressed in black and white. Government agents- the same two from the mall.

"What is it?" The young customs officer asked.

"It's my ex," Clover replied, thinking fast; "I broke up with him months ago but he just won't get over me- he's following me everywhere." She feigned dismay.

The customs officer looked from Clover to the two agents.

"I'll take care of him. You have a safe flight."

"Thankyou." Clover squeezed the young mans hand, which instantly made his face turn a bright red.

Clover caught up with her friends at the gate to the Honolulu flight; they were talking with another attendant.

"Yes," Sam was saying, "There should have been a manifest saying we would be joining you- our shift starts on a flight from Honolulu, but in order to get to that flight, we have to be on yours." Sam explained to the attendant.

"I haven't received any such manifest." The attendant replied. "But things have been so hectic around here tonight, I wouldn't be surprised if someone forgot about that- it's happened to me dozens of times. Alright, come on; we're off the ground in a few minutes."

Sam, Clover, Alex and the attendant made their way onto the plane. Ten minutes later, they were bound for Honolulu.

Back at customs, the two agents were surrounded by airport security undergoing a random security inspection. There was a hype of activity as the security personnel found the agents side arms; the two agents weren't given a chance to show their ID as they were roughly escorted to airport security for a more thorough search.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 10**

_WOOHP HQ, 9:00pm._

This whole experience was like the time he had gone spelunking; the severely cramped quarters of the air ducts reminded him of the tight spaces he had to frequently squeeze himself through, the cold air that chilled him to the core was not quite as cold as the underground streams, the thick layer of dust he was crawling through could have been limestone dust; the only light that broke the unending darkness came from the small key-chain flashlight that he clutched in his numb hands.

Were it not for his watch, Jerry would not have known the true passage of time that had passed while he had been wriggling through WOOHP's air ducts. Two hours. It felt longer.

Normally, the air ducts would be warm with the thermostats set warmly against the cold winter outside, but with no one in the building to set them, they were defaulted to a cold temperature- coupled with the chilly winter-night-time temperature outside that slowly slinked its icy fingers through the very walls, it made the cold in the air ducts almost unbearable.

He should have turned back long ago, but Jerry's will and determination pushed him forward.

This had all started since GLADIS had given him that piece of paper; by itself, the sheet was mundane, common and unremarkable- but what was on that paper made it important. It was that crucial information on that unremarkable everyday object that had spurred him here.

Of course, it was not the air ducts themselves he wanted to get to right now- no, it was merely a way for him to get to where he really needed to go.

Getting into the ducts had not been easy. It had involved his being on his hands and knees for nearly an hour trying to unscrew the bolts of the air vent in his office with only his hands, a desk drawer full of elastic bands, and the pathetically dim light provided by the red emergency lights. He would really have to make a point of making those lights a lighter and brighter colour when WOOHP was back running again; _if_ WOOHP got back up again.

A block in the duct ahead; this was hopefully the right place. Worming his way along, Jerry felt the walls beside the block until he found a maintenance release latch. With a grunt that resounded all the way along the air ducts, Jerry heaved down on the latch; the block in front of him lifted away and retreated into the duct walls with the horrible screech of metal grating against metal. Instantly, a breeze blew around the small gaps of space between his body and the duct; the cold air behind Jerry rushed forward to greet the warm air that was sealed off behind the block. The dust the small breeze kicked up off the floor was annoying and stang Jerry's eyes, but he welcomed the feel of warmth upon the bare skin of his hands and face.

He was definitely on the right path.

_5:23am._

Finally. Jerry was at his destination; the detention centre. Here, he would get some answers.

He had spent the whole night crawling at a snails pace through the air ducts that were a labyrinth unto themselves.

Jerry looked down into an office through the grate of an air vent. The room was in full light; power had been left untouched in the detention centre, the bright light hurt his eyes- having come from the relative pitch black of the ducts; it took a couple of minutes for Jerry's eyes to adjust to the bright light.

When he finally could see clearly into the room, he was relived to see that it was empty of anyone. Lifting the vent from the duct floor, Jerry snaked his body through the hole and into the vacant room.

His head was the first to emerge from the ceiling, (this is where the vent and air duct had been), his right hand gripping the side of the whole, he brought the rest of his body through, twisting as he went so his feet were towards the floor.

Jerry looked absolutely terrible; there were large, dark bags under his eyes from the sleep he did not get, but these bags could not be seen because of the dust and dirt that was caked all over his face- in fact his entire body. The normally pristine white shirt he wore was black, and if such a thing is even possible, his black coat and trousers (torn from protruding screws in the air ducts) were an even darker shade of black than they had been before.

He let go of the hole's edge; he landed heavily, but silently on the carpeted floor of the office, clouds of dust pouring off him from the quick movement.

A quick glance around told Jerry that this was the administrator's office. The administrator's office overlooked the detention centre main area- the cells. Walking over to a window, Jerry pulled the curtain that covered it apart slightly- enough to see the cells. Through the window, Jerry could see the majority of the detention centre; the walls of cells that reached three stories high, the stairs that made each walkway and cell accessible, and even the small guard station (a chair, desk and coffee machine) in the middle of the room.

There were none of his WOOHP agents here; the red-haired man must have made sure they were removed with the rest of WOOHP's staff. There was only one man in the centre- and he was sitting at the small guard station asleep.

_5:30am._

Jerry tiptoed his way across the catwalk along the east wall of cells on the second floor; his shoes made soft tapping sounds against the metal grating. The lone guard had been taken care of; tied up, gagged and locked in the administrators office, Jerry could not believe the man had not woken up until _after _Jerry had tied him up.

Jerry counted the cell numbers as he passed them; looking for the only one where he could get the answers he sought.

The entire detention centre was silent save the sound of apprehended criminals snoring in their sleep. Here it was.

Jerry peered into the cell; it was dark except for a small amount of light that found its way in from the main floor outside. Jerry was about to tell the cells occupant to wake up, when he instead was greeted.

"Trust you to make a code with over two trillion possible combinations. I've already tried one-million one-thousand six-hundred and eighty-two. Most likely the answer will be the simplest."

A single red light blinked on in the cell. A dark silhouette slowly rose from where the cell's cot would be; the sound of hydraulics, pistons and moving metal softly invaded the silence of the centre.

"What's your birthday, Jerry?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 11**

_WOOHP HQ, 5:33am._

"I like your new look, Jerry; desperate. It suits you."

Macker 'the safe cracker'. Once arguable one of the best safe crackers in the world, he had a taste for banks and vaults; but that was before WOOHP had attempted to apprehend him in the middle of one of his thefts which resulted not only in his escape (in which everyone thought he had died), but also the loss of his arm amongst other things.

He resurfaced a few years ago when he created an army of cloned Sam's, Alex's and Clover's that he planned to have rob every bank in the world. Fortunately, his plan's were thwarted.

"I'm here to make a deal." Jerry said, ignoring Macker's previous statements.

"Wow, Jerry; that's so unlike you. But yet, I get the feeling you are in no position to be making deals.

"We had an interesting thing happen here yesterday. Some new suits came in here and carted off all your guards. You wouldn't be in trouble now would you?" Macker taunted.

Jerry wasn't about to be led on by someone stuck in a cell. It wasn't surprising that Macker had the idea that something unusual was happening at WOOHP, all the occupants of the detention centre had seen the change of hands between the government and WOOHP, which meant that the criminals- and especially right now, Macker, would be using every moment they had to either taunt Jerry every chance they got, or try their hand at escape while there was still confusion over who was controlling WOOHP.

"If you co-operate, I will see what I can do about reducing your sentence." Jerry reasoned.

"Oh, you are in trouble. I'll tell you what; you get me out of here now, and I'll tell you what you want to know." An evil smile crept upon Macker's face as he spoke. His thoughts of having no intention whatsoever of holding up his end of such a deal, obvious.

"You tell me what I want to know, and we'll see if its worth letting you out now."

"Oh that was a pitiful excuse for a lie! It's either my freedom now, or nothing at all." Lashed Macker, his temper flaring.

Jerry was silent. Deliberately, he bowed his head as though deep in thought. Macker simply silently watched the tired man before him; but this silence was broken as he gasped at Jerry's next, unexpected action.

Reaching into his pocket, Jerry pulled out a security card and pushed it through the narrow slot built into the cell for giving its occupants their meals.

"I cannot it good conscience simply let you out. 'Clair 48296-D.'" He said, defeated.

"Now, the information."

Macker committed the code Jerry said to memory, and picked up the card as if it were a fragile and delicate jewel. It was unbelievable that in his hands was the key to his freedom.

"What is it you want?"

It had cost Jerry his soul, but he was finally getting somewhere.

"What do you know of cloning?"

"You're joking. You must have forgotten that I'm the one who almost pulled off the heist of the century and make you believe it was those three brats. How are they by the way? Are they in trouble like you? I hope so; they deserve it for what they did to me."

"On topic Macker. Cloning; what do you know of it? You developed a machine that created clones, how?" Jerry wasn't going to be baited.

"Well the whole process is very technical, I doubt that you'd be able to understand; and how I developed it? Well, that's sure to confuse you."

Macker was dodging the questions or playing the vague game.

"Enlighten me."

"Oh, we don't have the time for me to explain it properly to the likes of you, Jerry. Only a t-"

"You didn't build it."

"I did!"

"No, you're too stupid to build such a device. You're a thief Macker, a common stupid thief."

"Not so stupid as to fool you old men!"

There it was. What Jerry had been looking for; Macker's pride to make a mistake- no matter how small it was. He had suspected that Macker was not the real mind behind the cloning incident those few years ago- true, he had the machine, but he didn't have the smarts.

"Old men? That's plural, Macker. Who's the other?" At the back of his mind, Jerry noted that he had indirectly called himself old.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I know you didn't design the cloning machine Macker- you only just confirmed it. Who is the other man you were talking about!?"

Macker was quiet; annoyed that he had fallen into this trap; but he was content to know he'd be out of his cell soon enough, so a few moments more of Jerry's torment would be worth the trouble.

"Very few people have come close to proper cloning; there's only one- beside myself, who has succeeded." Macker's mouth twisted into a grin as a realisation came to him.

"That's what this is all about. Old-man Peterson has come for you." Macker broke off into a fit of laughter.

Jerry's face was completely unreadable at the mention of the name. This was all he needed to know.

Jerry turned on his heel and headed to the administrator's office. The power distribution centre- that's where he had to get to.

Macker finished his laughing fit.

"Hang on, Jerry; come back and let me see the look on your face." He called out, still chuckling to himself.

Macker had a tough time reaching his hand through the narrow opening, but he finally managed and swiped the card through and input the code Jerry had told him. Nothing happened. He tried again. Nothing.

"Jerry!" He growled. "Get back here!"

Macker's shouts echoed through the centre, waking up the other inhabitants who promptly told him to shut up.

Jerry smiled; Macker's shouts were music to his ears. He had given Macker the card to the staff restroom.


End file.
